Monthly Archives: July 2015

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Happy Wednesday! This week is both flying and crawling at the same time, if that’s possible. I’ve been trying to eat healthier lately, but it’s also SO HOT in Houston that just the thought of turning the stove on makes me sweat. I typically make a pizza or other fun dinner for myself on the weekend, but after laying out at the pool all day Saturday, I needed something light, but obviously still delicious and filling. So I decided to combine a citrus salmon recipe that I love with a homemade version of my favorite Salata salad. And it was so good I made it without the salmon for lunch until I ran out of kale.

Okay first we need to address this MASSIVE salmon plank. I asked for 4oz, and the little fishmonger just haphazardly whacked off a chunk, weighed it to get the price, and wrapped it up without noticing that it was 6oz. I’m fine with more fish, but I also had to pay more for it, which I wasn’t too pleased about. Also, it was so large that it just fell apart when I tried to plate it, so that’s why it looks kind of sad. But hey, I did the best I could and it’s delicious so that’s all that matters, right?

-lemon vinaigrette dressing- I used Marzetti’s Simply Dressed Lemon, in the refrigerated section.

Here’s what you do:

1. First, prepare the salmon. It has to marinate for at least 30 minutes, so plan for that. ALSO cook it on a foil-lined pan, because I cannot tell you how long it took me to scrub the burnt honey off my pan.

2. Finely chop the kale and spinach and add to a very large mixing bowl.

3. Add the brussels sprouts, apple, and quinoa and toss.

4. Next, add the pine nuts, cheese, and dressing. Toss until everything is fully coated with dressing. I usually just pour my dressing over the top, but tossing your salad ensures every bite is tasty!

I’m sitting here watching the Bachelorette finale and eating ice cream, because it was definitely a Monday. All around my office, actually. We all left a few minutes early because it was just that bad. I cried at my desk, not a joke. But I went home early, went to the gym, and then watched hours of reality tv and ate ice cream, and now I feel a lot better about my life.

Today, I’m sharing a few of my favorite photos from the blogstagram! I try to at least tag where everything is from, but sometimes I can’t find the official Instagram account/I’m running late to work and don’t even have time to be posting to Instagram in the first place, so this is a great way to share the details with y’all! Here are my latest snapshots!

This is a shot of my coffee table that is the pride and joy of my apartment. Seriously. I knew I wanted a hot pink coffee table, and I decorated the rest of my living room around it. I keep this chic Sarah Hansen Annapolis Queen Bee tray on it, and my Kate Spade planner. It’s from last year, but I’m loving this year’s options!

I LAHVE the geometric print on this top from Loft. It’s bold without being overwhelming, and I love the teal color! Also, this top is super comfy, it’s t-shirt material on the body, and a flowy, gauzy material for the sleeves. I paired it with my BaubleBar monogram necklace and my gold triangle studs. I couldn’t find them online, but these are super similar!

This is one of my go-to work outfits. I actually wore it yesterday, but with different shoes (still leopard, obviously). I paired my trusty JCrew Factory chambray with my black jeans from Old Navy, and these leopard wedges that I got at Target a few years ago! Once again, I couldn’t find them online but I love these!

I bought this monogrammed bandeau swim top from Marley Lilly at the beginning of the summer, and I’m obsessed with it. I love this font, and the bright green! I’ve paired it with both bright coral and black bottoms, and it’s adorable! However, I will say I ordered a medium and it’s a little big, and it doesn’t come with pads, which is obviously necessary for a white top. But there are spots to add them yourself, so I just stole them from one of my old tops and it’s perfect!

This flouncy little top with Eiffel towers all over from Francesca’s is another work go-to. This top doesn’t have little Parisian icons on it, but it’s a similar shape and color! I layered my BaubleBar monogrammed necklace with this BURDLife pendant for a fancy look.

Green pants can make any day a little brighter! I bought this spring green pair at JCPenney, and they’re some of my favorites! Also, these brown simple sandals from Target are so great that I have to limit myself on how often I wear them.

These polka-dot Pixie Pants from Old Navy are what I wear when I want to feel really put-together. I added a pop of color with this orange button-down (similar) and tied it together with my Kate Spade leopard bag.

Happy Monday! I have a busy week ahead, and I’m going home this weekend to celebrate my birthday with my family! It’s next Monday, and I’m having a really hard time coming to terms with the fact that I actually have to go to work on my birthday, because since it’s in the summer, I’ve always been off of school. So that should be an interesting experience.

Anyways, this weekend was absolutely wonderful because I did absolutely nothing. It made me think of this quote that I found on Pinterest maybe a million years ago:

I personally require an unusually large amount of “me time”, which I’ve been getting a lot of since I’ve been living by myself. But for the past few weekends, I’ve had stuff to do, and while it’s all been fun and great, I’ve been dying to just spend a weekend by myself relaxing. So that’s what I did, and it was fantastic. I mean, I did actually leave my apartment…I went shopping, to the pool, to the grocery store etc., but I was just by myself doing anything I wanted to do and nothing that I didn’t. It was a much needed weekend of rest and refueling! I definitely couldn’t do it every weekend, but every now and then, it’s necessary. Now I’m ready for my busy week at work/with friends! What’s your favorite way to relax on the weekends? Let me know!

I hope your week is off to a great start! I think it’s going to be a loooong week, but hopefully there will be pizza and other wonderful things at the end. Speaking of pizza, I may as well re-name this blog the Pizza Princess because I’ve been posting a new pizza recipe so often! It’s just that it’s so fun and easy to come up with new recipes, and obviously I have to share them with you. This weekend, my friends from college came to stay with me, and we made a delicious Mexican pizza for dinner Saturday night. It was so fun to cook with my friends, and the fact that it was delicious made it even better. This pie is very filling, good for a crowd. and reminds me of a flat enchilada. SO. GOOD. So enough chit chat, here’s the recipe.

Here’s what you need:

-1 pizza crust (refrigerated, you know my rules)

-1 cup salsa

-1 lb hamburger meat

-1/2 of a purple onion, diced

-1 roma tomato, diced

-1/4 cup fresh cilantro

-1/4 cup frozen corn

-8 oz. queso fresco

-1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

-1/4 cup sour cream

-1 avocado

Here’s what you do:

1. First, brown the hamburger meat in a skillet. You can season it with taco seasoning if you’d like, but we forgot to buy taco seasoning, so we poured a little salsa in the meat and added garlic and onion powder. Honestly, my friend Katie cooked and seasoned the meat, so I don’t really know what she did. So use your discretion. Make it taste like tacos.

2. Next, preheat the oven according to the directions on your pizza crust. I would suggest baking it a bit before you add the toppings, because our crust was a little undercooked in the middle!

3. Chop all your vegetables except for the avocado, and defrost the frozen corn in the microwave for 45-60 seconds. Set this aside.

4. Spread the salsa on the crust. We used a chunkier sauce, which made it more like pizza sauce.

5. Then, spread half of the meat on top of the sauce, sprinkle half of the tomatoes, corn, onions, and cilantro, and crumble about 1/4 of the queso fresco and cheddar on top.

6. Add a second layer of toppings, starting with the meat, then veggies, then cilantro and the majority of the cheese.

7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the crust is cooked and the cheese is melted.

8. Drizzle the sour cream on top. We did this by microwaving the sour cream for 30-45 seconds to make it a little thinner. You could also put it in a plastic bag and cut the tip off and pipe it on like frosting,

9. Finally, slice the avocado and space evenly across the pizza.

10. Cut into slices and share with your friends!

It’s the perfect combination of my two favorite foods: tacos and pizza! Give it a try- I promise you’ll love it!

It’s Pre-Friday! AND it’s theSkimm‘s third birthday! Click on my fancy new button to your right, or the link in this post to Skimm with me every day!

But on to the main event. I’m usually not one to follow trends- I tend to go for more classic looks. However, I often break that rule when it comes to jewelry. Jewelry is one of the cheaper things to add to your wardrobe, and most jewelry trends tend to last for a while. One of my favorite trends this summer is tassels! I started to love these last summer, but now I’m sure that they’re going to be around for a while, need it. Last summer was beaded tassels, but now there are embroidery thread tassels, fabric tassels, and so many more! Here are a few of my favorites:

LAHHVE these Lisi Lerch tassel earrings. These are probably my all-time favorites, even though I have no idea where I would wear them. But how cute would these be with a hot pink romper and wedges for a fancy night out? Too cute.

I’m also loving these bracelets from BaubleBar. They’re so summery and fun, and would make a great addition to your arm party!

I’m also obsessed with these tassel and stone necklaces from Nordstrom. I love the natural stone with the pops of color from the thread tassels. These would be great layered with your everyday necklace to dress up a basic tank! Love it.

Happy Hump Day! I’m writing this while watching this week’s RHONY, where Heather loses her mind because she woke up with unattended strange guys in their vacation home thanks to Ramona and Luann’s antics. And I’m having mild PTSD because unfortunately, I was in Heather’s shoes more times than I wanted to be in college. But I digress.

As you may know, “In My Closet” is a series in which I highlight an article of clothing that I personally own that I feel is a staple in the wardrobe of a fashion-forward young woman. Today, I’ve chosen something that you have probably already seen on my Instagram, but I love it so much that I wanted to share it again!

This striped swing dress from Old Navy was a wonderful addition to my closet last spring! It’s so comfortable, versatile, and classic. It’s the easiest outfit ever, you just throw it on and go! The stripes are a basic print that look great alone, but can also be spruced up with fun accessories. I love wearing mine with a statement necklace and sandals, as pictured above, with a bright colored scarf and fun earrings, and I’m looking forward to trying it out with my brown booties and a chunky scarf in the fall! Also, the stretchy t-shirt material makes it easy to wear all day and not be annoyed or uncomfortable. When I bought this, I didn’t think it would end up being such a great investment (ps, it was under $20, so it was also a steal!), but I could wear it every day in a million different ways. Add a simple, striped dress to your single girl closet and see what you can do with it!

Happy Tuesday! I skipped Monday’s Musing’s yesterday, as you may have noticed. I wrote one, but then I decided that I didn’t like it, so I didn’t post it. But I’ve been super excited about sharing this recipe, so here it is!

I signed up to make a side dish for my 4th of July party before I really thought about what I would make. So naturally, I called my mom and asked what she thought people would like, because no one wants to bring that thing that no one else eats. She suggested this yummy corn and black bean salad that she had made for my graduation party a few weeks ago, and I was on board!

Here’s what you’ll need:

-1 can black beans

-1 cup frozen corn

-1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

-1 chopped green bell pepper

-1/2 purple onion, diced

-1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved or quartered

-2 tbsp olive oil

-juice of 2 limes

-salt

-garlic powder

-1 avocado, diced

Here’s what you’ll do:

1. Rinse and drain the beans, and microwave the corn for about 30 seconds, until defrosted but not cooked.

2. Next, in a large bowl, toss together all the ingredients except the olive oil, lime juice, salt, garlic powder and avocado.

3. Then, mix together the olive oil, lime juice, salt, and garlic powder in a small bowl.

4. Drizzle the dressing over the veggies, and toss to coat.

5. Leave in the fridge for at least an hour.

6. Right before serving, add the avocado, another squeeze of lime juice and toss again.

7. Enjoy!

How easy is that? You can serve this with chips, or on its own as a salad! I love that it’s so colorful- it makes me want to eat it all. Also, I had some left over, so I spread some hummus on a whole grain tortilla, filled it with the salad, and rolled it up for a great lunch wrap! This is a great healthy dish to take to a party, or just to make for yourself!

When I first started working, I would wear heels all the time. I wore them to my internship at the law firm (until I tripped on the rug and nearly dropped everyone’s lunch…true story.), stuffed them in my tote bag to change on the bus for my internship at the School of Public Health, and of course, wore them on my first day of work at my big girl job. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that my office is much more casual, and eight hours is wayyy too long to wear heels. So I’ve switched from pumps to flats, and I’m not even sorry about it. Sure, I still wear wedges and heels occasionally, but for the most part, flats are my friends. I have a few pairs of flats that go with everything, but as we all know, you can never have enough shoes. That being said, I like a lot of versatility in my shoes- I’ve got to be able to wear them with quite a few outfits. I tend to lean towards more neutral shoes, with a few exceptions here and there. I’ve got my eye on quite a few pairs, and I thought I’d share them with you!

First on my list is the timeless Reva flat from Tory Burch. I’ve wanted these for YEARS and to be honest, I’m not sure why I haven’t gotten them yet. Actually, I know exactly why, I’m horrible at managing my money. But anyways, I wear my other black flats at least three days a week, so another pair is definitely going to be needed soon. I love these because they’re high quality, and add a stylish twist to a basic wardrobe staple. I’m hoping they’ll be on sale next week at the Nordstrom Annual sale!

Next up, I’m loving a classic pair of brown driving slippers, like these Nancy loafers from Coach. These look so comfortable, and are a nice change of pace from regular ballet flats. They’re a sleek and chic shoe that would look great with a paper bag skirt, cuffed jeans, or white cigarette pants.

Next up are these scalloped nude flats from DSW. I’ve wanted nude flats for quite some time, and I love the scallop trim on these! They add a girly touch to a basic shoe. These would look great with practically anything!

Two other styles I love are pointed-toe and D’orsay flats, and these Sole Society flats cover both of those! Now I know I said I like to keep my shoes pretty neutral, but these are just adorable. They would be an easy way to add a pop of color to a basic black and white outfit, or outside of work with rolled boyfriend jeans and a slouchy tee.

See, flats can be fun! I know most of these are pretty basic, but keep in mind that these are choices for work, so they’re more on the conservative side. Except for the floral pair. But the great thing about neutral shoes is that they can be worked into so many different outfits! What’s your favorite pair of flats, and what do you wear them with? Let me know!

Happy Wednesday! You know what that means- we’ve made it halfway through the week! It also means WorkIt Wednesday is back. I’m going to be honest, I have not been working it lately. I’ve just been super tired and not feeling like going to the gym, and I haven’t been eating very well. But, it’s time to get back on track! I’ve fallen off the wagon quite a few times in my day, and I’ve found that the easiest way to get back on is to start at the beginning (breakfast) and work up from there. I usually just eat Greek yogurt for breakfast, but sometimes that gets boring, and I get REALLY hungry/hangry at around 10 am, leading me to break into my lunch at the first acceptable moment (11 am), which means I’m starving again by 5, and come home and eat everything I see. Which is obviously incongruent to my goals. After seeing these on Pinterest, I decided to make my own version of a protein-packed breakfast bowl. I’ve made a few different varieties, and have devised a simple 3-step formula for the perfect bowl.

1. Base-start with a single-serving cup of your favorite flavor of yogurt. I usually use coconut Chobani, but they were out, so I settled for plain. Sometimes I will mix a tablespoon of peanut butter in with the yogurt to add a little extra protein and flavor!

2. Make it sweet- For me, this is a drizzle of honey, but you could use agave nectar, stevia, or just leave it plain if you’re using a flavored yogurt.

3. Add the extras-I usually add 1/4 cup of quinoa and some type of fruit, but you could add nuts, granola, or even chocolate chips to make it interesting!

How easy is that? 1,2,3, breakfast! Here are a few of my favorite combos:

-Coconut Chobani mixed with peanut butter, quinoa, a drizzle of honey, and a handful of raspberries

-Peach yogurt, quinoa, a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkling of toasted almonds and granola

If you come up with a new combo, let me know- I would love to try it! This is an easy way to have a healthy breakfast to help you power through your day, and it’s completely flexible to accommodate your tastes.

As you know, pizza is my latest obsession. Or should I say, making pizza is my latest obsession. And eating it. And talking about it. So all of it, pretty much. It’s my current goal to make all of my favorite meals into a pizza. Like most of my goals, I got started on this one right away and made a pizza inspired by one of my favorite pasta recipes. My sea-star shared this caramelized onion and kale linguine recipe from Camille Styles with me a couple of months ago, and I looooooved it. When I was looking for a pizza recipe, I couldn’t find one that I super loved, and my mind kept going back to the tangy onion and kale flavor combination. But I didn’t really want pasta, because you can’t freeze it like you can pizza, and I knew I was going to be gone most of the weekend. So I decided to make it into a pizza! I used the same caramelizing technique for the onions and kale, and used fresh mozzarella and pine nuts as well, only adding pesto for the sauce! And now I’m pretty sure that I’m a culinary genius, so stay tuned for my cookbook. Anyways, I’m excited to share this pizza with you!

3. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray, and then spread the pizza crust evenly on the pan.

4. Next, spread a layer of pesto on the dough. I personally think that a little pesto goes a long way, so my layer was pretty thin.

5. Then, arrange the mozzarella slices on top of the pesto. I actually didn’t use the whole 8 oz, but I did make sure every inch was covered with cheese.

6. Pop the crust into the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the mozzarella starts to get bubbly.

7. While the crust is in the oven, heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and then add the onions.

8. Saute the onions for ten minutes, then add 1/4 teaspoon of salt, reduce the heat, and cook for 10-15 minutes more until the onions are caramelized. I know this sounds like a loooooong time, but it’s worth it, I promise!

9. Once the onions are caramelized, add the kale. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes until the kale is wilted, but still bright green. (This is where I made a mistake: I cooked the veggies wayyy too long and burned them. They were delicious, but ugly).

10. After the kale is cooked, spread the kale-onion mixture evenly on top of the melted mozzarella. Well, as evenly as you can. Then sprinkle the pine nuts and parmesan on top, and pop it back into the oven for about 5 minutes until the cheese is melted.

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About Me

I'm Kristen! I'm a Christ-following, Aggie girl with a love for anything monogrammed, tacos, a well put-together outfit, a delicious recipe, mornings with two cups of coffee, and cats. This little blog is my creative outlet, and I'm so happy you're here to share it with me!

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